The Roman Catholic bishops in England and Wales are resisting the Pope's plans to liberalise the use of the traditional Latin Mass.Under the current rules, which apply across the world, the Tridentine Rite can only be said with the special permission of a diocesan bishop.
But Pope Benedict XVI, an admirer of the 16th-century rite, is understood to have signed a document that would allow priests to celebrate it whenever they wish.
Insiders have disclosed, however, that Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has written to the Vatican arguing that such a relaxation is unnecessary.
In a confidential letter, the Cardinal, the head of the Church in England and Wales, has argued that the provision of the Old Rite was already adequate in this country.
His intervention will spark outrage among traditionalists, who have fought for decades for the full reinstatement of the Mass.
They believe that there is a growing interest in the old Mass, which many worshippers find more beautiful and inspiring than modern liturgies.
The Pope wants to reintroduce the Old Rite to lure back traditionalists who were deeply angered by its suppression after the the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
But liberals are deeply wary because a number of the rite's adherents are associated with ultra conservative groups that oppose the radical reforms ushered in by the Council.
They are also worried that the move signals the Pope's growing determination to reinforce conservative doctrines in his battle against the forces of secularism.
The Cardinal's comments came in a letter to the Vatican's Ecclesia Dei Commission, an organisation set up in 1988 to build bridges with traditionalists.
A spokesman for the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales confirmed that the Cardinal had made representations as part of a consultation process.
But he insisted that the bishops had "not asked for an exemption" from any proposed moto proprio - meaning on the Pope's own initiative - from the Holy See.
The spokesman pointed out that the English and Welsh bishops were the first in the world to be allowed to permit the celebration of the Tridentine Rite.
An indult was granted in 1971 by Pope Paul VI after a group of English luminaries - including Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, Agatha Christie, Kenneth Clark, William Rees-Mogg, Malcolm Muggeridge, Ralph Richardson, C Day Lewis and Iris Murdoch - complained to him about the loss to civilisation and culture that the suppression represented.
The indult was extended acrossthe world in 1984 and Pope John Paul II reinforeced it with a third indult in 1989, calling on all bishops to be generous in their provision of the Mass.
Privately, the English and Welsh bishops argue that they now have had long experience of granting such permissions and they are very rarely refused.
But John Medlin, the general manager of the Latin Mass Society, said he was surprised that the bishops regarded the provision of the Old Rite as adequate.
"The situation has indeed improved in some dioceses over the past few years - not least in the Cardinal's own diocese of Westminster, for which traditionalists are very grateful," he said.
"However, other dioceses such as Plymouth, Wrexham and Salford make completely inadequate provision - verging on the non-existent - and traditional faithful in those dioceses have a strong impression that the bishops concerned are unresponsive and dismissive of their needs."
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, disclosed last week that the easing of restrictions on the Old Rite Mass was imminent and that Pope Benedict XVI was "personally interested in making this happen".
He said that the Pope has also prepared an accompanying letter explaining his reasons and expressing his hopes for a serene reception of the document by the Church, and it may be issued by the end of this month.
But sources in Rome said that strong objections to the change had come from a number of countries including England and Wales, and traditionalists fear that the Pope may have watered down his initial plans.
He is also understood to have excluded a Good Friday prayer calling for the conversion of Jews that some felt could have upset the sensitive relations between the two faiths.
The Tridentine Rite, which dates back to the 1560 Council of Trent, differs from the new Mass in that it is celebrated in Latin with the priest leading the people in facing east, the direction from which the Church believes Jesus will appear on the Last Day.
This means the priest has his back to the congregation, unlike the new Mass, which is celebrated in the vernacular with the priests facing their congregations.
In November, an Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, the Rt Rev John Arnold, will make history when he becomes the first English bishop to celebrate a Tridentine Rite Mass in Westminster Cathedral since the 1960s.
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